Sole roughing machine



Sept 20, 1938.

E. J. LE GAULT SOLE ROUGHING MACHINE 2 SheetS Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 2, 1937 E. J. LE GAULT SOLE ROUGHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i7? venior Patented Sept. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2.130.553 SOLE ROUGHING MACHINE of Massachusetts Application September 2, 1937, Serial No. 162,077

5 Claims.

My invention relates to machines forroughing soles used in the manufacture of shoes by the so-called cement process. In the latter process, the inner marginal surface of the sole is cemented to the overlasted margin of the upper. It has long been realized that cement will not form a secure and permanent bond with leather unless the leather is first treated to disrupt the smoothness or glaze of its surface and raise small fibres around which the cement can flow. Such a result can be obtained by abrading the sole with a radial wire brush, but the machines heretofore available have proved unsatisfactory because their operation is too slow, and there is considerable likelihood of painful injuries to the operator resulting from the necessity of pushing the sole through the machine and the consequent danger of touching the rapidly revolvingwire brush.

An object of my invention is to provide improved means for feeding a sole automatically through the roughing machine so that the operator need not touch it except to place it in the starting position and remove it after roughing has been completed. As herein shown, the desired results are accomplished by the combination with a roughing roll and feed roll arranged to rotate about parallel horizontal axes and to cooperate in advancing the sole between them, of gauge rolls so located as to engage the margin of a sole in a line oblique to the axes of said rolls.

An important feature of my invention consists in a novel assembly of a work table and feed roll whereby variations in the thickness of the soles being treated are compensated for.

A further feature of my invention comprises a roughing'roll shaft adapted to drive a feed roll shaft at considerably less speed than the roughing roll shaft and including a novel connection between the feed roll and the roughing roll shaft permitting variation in the location of these two members without interrupting the driving operation.

These and other features of my invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the machine with some parts removed for purposes of clarity,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of one end of the machine; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the relation of the gauge rolls to the feed roll.

Bolted to the hollow base i is an upright,

rectangular gear housing ll having an overhanging, hollow. horizontal arm l2 bolted to one side of its upper portion. A shaft [3 is journaled in the housing and in the outer end of the horizontal arm I 2 and is protected by a sheet metal cover M secured by screws 42 to the side of the arm. The shaft l3 carries at its outer end a roughing roll I 5 which is held against longitudinal movement by a shoulder and a nut 16 threaded on the shaft [3. The roughing roll l5 herein shown consists of wires set radially in a central hub, a construction well known in the art. Cut in the shaft l3 at a point within the gear housing H are gear teeth forming an elongated pinion IT which meshes with a spur gear l8 keyed on the shaft l9 journaled horizontally Within the housing II. A gear 20 also keyed on the shaft I9 is much smaller in diameter than the gear' l8 and meshes with a pinion 2| splined to a horizontal shaft 22 which is journaled in the housing. I I. A'shaft 24 is disposed near the bottom of the housing I l and carries alarge gear 23 which is arranged to mesh with the pinion 2|. One end of the lower shaft 24 extends through the sidewall of the housing II and terminates in a fork 25 forming one element of a universal joint with a similar fork integral with a spindle 26. The opposite end 28 of the spindle 26 which is tapered enters a hole in an inclined and angularly movable shaft 29. A groove and key connection between the inclining shaft 29 and the end 28 of the spindle prevents relative rotation of thespindle 26 and the'shaft 29, although longitudinal movement is permitted. At the upper end of the inclined shaft 29 is a universal joint formed in part by a fork 30 integral with the rod 29 and a similar fork 3! on the end of a horizontal shaft 32 which is journaled in a yoke 33 bolted to a flat circular work table 35 by bolts 35 ground flush with the surface of the table 35.

The horizontal shaft 32 carries a knurled, bevel edge feed roll 34 partially protruding through a rectangular aperture in the worktable 35. The

shaft 32 is parallel to the shaft 13 and the rolls |5 and 34 rotate in the same vertical plane engaging and feeding the sole between them. The work is engaged by the rolls for feeding along a transverse line located midway between the ends of the exposed segment and the lower feed roll 35. The rolls tend to feed the work in the direc-' tion of the arrow shown in Fig. 3, but the work is "prevented from moving as a whole in that direction by gauge rolls.

Referring again to Fig. 3, it will be seen that a pair of gauge rolls 3'! and 38 freely rotating on vertical axes are disposed on a line oblique to the axes of rotation of the feed rolls. The gauge rolls 3'! and 38 are located one on each side of the feed roll 34 with the outer roll 31 the furthest away from the line of feeding engagement. The periphery of the feed roll 34 tapers or converges outwardly from the inside edge of the roll.

Integral with the yoke 33 is a downwardly extending threaded spindle 39 upon which a threaded stem or regulator disc 40 is carried. Sur-,.

rounding the portion of the spindle 39 below the disc 40 is a helical compression spring 4| resting in a socket 43 in the hollow base 10. By rotating the regulator disc 40 the spindle 39, with the yoke 33 and the circular work table 35 carried thereby, is raised or lowered and thus adjusted with respect to the roughing roll i5 without varying the compression of the spring 4 I. The

circular work table 35 is provided with an angular recess 44, the edges of which embrace the housing H and prevent lateral movement of the table 35 while allowing vertical movement thereof. It will be seen that the universal joints connecting the shaft 24 to the shaft 32 permit vertical movement of the latter shaft without interrupting the rotational actuation thereof.

. A pulley 45 keyed on the rear end of the horizontalshaft I3 is belted to any suitable source of power. By experimentation, I have discovered that the most eflicient operation of the machine is obtained when the roughing roll. l5 turns at 2,100.R.. P. MI and the rate of the feed roll 34 is 160 R. P. M., a ratio .of approximately 13:1. The train of gears in the housing ll reduces the speed of 2,100 R. P. M. at the pinion I! to 160 R. P. M. at the shaft 24. When higher speeds are used, the'soles are likely to be jerked through the machine and portions of the margins are not roughened. Lower speeds are unsatisfactory because production is retarded.

In operating the machine, the operator places one edge of the sole between the roughing roll l5 and the feed roll 34, after having manipulated the regulator disc 40 to obtain proper clearance between the'two rolls.' Both rolls urge the sole forward as shown in Fig. 2, but theslower moving feed roll 24 retards the progress of the sole so the roughing roll l5 will act as an abrading means and not solely as a feed roll. In other.

' words, each point on the under side of the sole has contact with" but onepoint on the feed roll 34, while each.'corresponding point on the upper margin of the'sole is subjected to the abrading' action of a section of the roughing r011 15.

The sole, as explained; is urged forward by the two' drivenrolls but is deflected from the'feeding line of these rolls by the gauge rolls 38 and 31 aided by thetaperof the feed roll 34. other words, the forward force exerted on the sole bythe driven rolls is resolved into two forces by the action of the gauge rolls, one tending to press the edge of the sole against the gauge rolls and the other tending to advance the sole obliquely in a 'line parallel to the gauge rolls. The resultant movement causes the edge of the sole fto "travel against the gauge rolls; the rolls automatically following every curve in the edge of the sole and the soleturning and twisting into continuous contact with the gauge rolls so long as it is left in the machine. However, the usual roughing is confined to the forward portion of the shoe from breast line to breast line, and the through the machine.

'Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A sole roughing machine comprising a sole support, a roughing roll and feed roll arranged to rotate about parallel, horizontal axes and to cooperate in advancing the sole between them, and gauge rolls so located as to engage the margin of a sole in a line oblique to the axes of said rolls.

2. A sole roughing machine comprising a work table having an aperture, a roughing roll disposed, for rotation over said aperture, a yoke secured to the underside of said work table and embracing said aperture, a shaft journaled in said yoke, a feed roll keyed on said shaft and partially extending through said aperture, a spindle integral with said yoke and projecting downwardly, a spring supporting said spindle, and means foradjustably controlling the height of said work table and feed roll.

3. A sole roughing machine comprising an apertured work table, a roughing roll disposed for rotation over said aperture, a yoke secured to said work table and embracing the aperture in said work table, a shaft journaled in said yoke, a feed roll keyed on said shaft and partially extending through said aperture, a spring supporting said spindle, a housing extending above the plane of the work table, a horizontal shaft extending through said housing and carrying said roughing roll, a gear shaft journaled in said housing, an inclined angularly movable shaft connecting the shaft in said yoke to said gear shaft, and a gear train between said horizontal shaft and said gear shaft, said gear train being constructed and arranged to turn said gear shaft more slowly than said horizontal shaft.

4; A sole roughing machine having a frame, a rotary roughing tool mounted therein, and a flat work table for supporting a ,sole beneath the roughing tool, the table being carried by a yoke which has its stem guided for vertical movement in theframe, a feed roll journaled in the yoke and projecting through the table a fixed distance, means for adjusting the table, yoke and feed roll as a unit toward or from the roughing tool, and means for yieldingly supporting said unit in different positions of adjustment.

,5. A sole roughing machine having a frame with an upstanding portion, a rotary roughing tool mounted therein, and a flat work table for a sole being roughed,'the table being carried by a yoke which is slidably retained in the frame and being held against angular displacement by engagement with the upstanding portion of the frame, a feed roll journaled in the yoke and extending up through the table, a disk on the stem of the yoke, and a spring beneath the disk yieldingly supporting the table, yoke and feed roll as a unit.

' ELZEAR J. LE GAULT. 

